How to Reorder an Operating System Deployment Task Sequence

Article
05/03/2011

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

In Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, you can reorder the steps (an action or a group) in a task sequence or group by rearranging the step sequence in the Steps property SMS_TaskSequences _Steps array.

To reorder a task sequence

Set up a connection to the SMS Provider. For more information, see About the SMS Provider in Configuration Manager.
Obtain a valid task sequence (SMS_TaskSequence) or task sequence group (SMS_TaskSequence_Group). For more information, see How to Read a Task Sequence from a Task Sequence Package.
Within the Steps array property, move the SMS_TaskSequence_Step to its new location.
Update the task sequence or group.

Example

The following example shows how to move a step up or down within a task sequence or group.

For information about calling the sample code, see Calling Configuration Manager Code Snippets.

Sub MoveTaskSequenceStepDown(taskSequence, stepName)
   Dim index
   Dim osdStep
   Dim temp
       
    index=0
    
    ' If found, move the step down.
    for each osdStep in taskSequence.Steps
        If osdStep.Name=stepName Then
            If index < Ubound (TaskSequence.Steps) Then
                Set temp=osdStep
                taskSequence.Steps(index)=taskSequence.Steps(index+1)
                taskSequence.Steps(index+1)=temp
                Exit For
           End If    
        End If
        
        index=index+1
    next
End Sub

Sub MoveTaskSequenceStepUp(taskSequence, stepName)
    Dim index
    Dim osdStep
    Dim temp     
    
    index=0
    
    ' If found, move the step up.
    for Each osdStep In taskSequence.Steps
        If osdStep.Name=stepName Then
            If index >1 Then
                Set temp=osdStep
                taskSequence.Steps(index)=taskSequence.Steps(index-1)
                taskSequence.Steps(index-1)=temp
                Exit For
           End If    
        End If
        
        index=index+1

    next
End Sub

public void MoveTaskSequenceStepDown(
    IResultObject taskSequence, 
    string taskSequenceStepName)
{
    try
    {
        // Get the task sequence steps.
        List<IResultObject> steps = taskSequence.GetArrayItems("Steps"); // Array of SMS_TaskSequence_Steps.

        int index = 0;

        // Scan through the steps to find the step to move down.
        foreach (IResultObject ro in steps)
        {
            if (ro["Name"].StringValue == taskSequenceStepName)
            {
                // Move the step.
                if (index < steps.Count - 1) // Not at end, so we can flip.
                {
                    steps.Insert(index + 2, steps[index]);
                    steps.Remove(steps[index]);
                    taskSequence.SetArrayItems("Steps", steps);
                    break;
                }
            }

            index++;
        }
    }
    catch (SmsException e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Failed To enumerate task sequence items: " + e.Message);
        throw;
    }
}



public void MoveTaskSequenceStepUp(
    IResultObject taskSequence, 
    string taskSequenceStepName)
{
    try
    {
        // Get the task sequence steps.
        List<IResultObject> steps = taskSequence.GetArrayItems("Steps"); // Array of SMS_TaskSequence_Steps.

        int index = 0;

        foreach (IResultObject ro in steps)
        {
            if (ro["Name"].StringValue == taskSequenceStepName)
            {
                if (index > 0) // Not the first step, so you can move it up.
                {
                    steps.Insert(index + 1, steps[index - 1]);
                    steps.Remove(steps[index - 1]);
                    taskSequence.SetArrayItems("Steps", steps);
                    break;
                }
            }
            index++;
        }
    }
    catch (SmsException e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Failed To enumerate task sequence items: " + e.Message);
        throw;
    }
}

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
taskSequence	Managed: IResultObject VBScript: SWbemObject	A valid task sequence (SMS_TaskSequence) or task sequence group (SMS_TaskSequence_Group)
taskSequenceStepName	Managed: String VBScript: String	The name of the task sequence step (SMS_TaskSequence_Step) to move.

Compiling the Code

This C# example requires:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.Text

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

adminui.wqlqueryengine

Robust Programming

For more information about error handling, see About Configuration Manager Errors.

Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see About Securing Configuration Manager Applications.